The Final Crucible
by Spartaninspace
Summary: The story of Commander Shepard's final push on the citadel, including an extension of the extended cut.
1. Chapter 1

The Final Crucible

I lifted my hand to my forehead, rubbing my temples. I had known from day one not to over-exert my biotics, even when I was using the old L3 implant series, symptoms of overuse included headaches, temporary blindness and bleeding from the eyes or ears, the fact that I was getting headaches was proof that the reapers were incredibly powerful, even the desiccated corpses they used were overheating my L5 implants, and that wasn't supposed to happen at all, the amount of use before overheat was the reason many L3s upgraded to the retrofit edition, despite the risks unplugging the old implant from your brain carried. "we need to end this soon" I muttered, "If mine are only just starting to overheat, I'd hate to see how bad it is for the retrofits" Garrus merely nodded at me, cleaning the husk blood off of his Black Widow rifle where he'd had to use it as a club.

"don't worry Shepard" he finally said, his usual mischievous glint returning to his eyes, "soon this war will finally be done, and you and Tali can 'finally build her a house on the homeworld'" he finished with a faux mocking tone, trying to deflect the severity of the situation with humour.

"you are such a wanker sometimes Garrus" I chuckled, while Tali just looked down into her lap, apparently blushing behind her helmet. As the Alliance APC approached the conduit, I started going into a daydream, wondering what it'd be like living on Rannoch with Tali, I've never actually lived on a planet before, having spent most of my childhood in space. As the thought started to relax me, I heard the sound that had haunted my nightmares for six months. A reaper horn. Garrus, Tali and Anderson all heard it too and secured themselves just in time for the explosion, the beam fried the cockpit of the APC, Vapourized by the reaper's main beam. As I climb from the wreckage, I see the one thing I didn't expect, Harbinger himself. "we gotta move!" Anderson yells from just behind me.

"right behind you Anderson" I yelled back, drawing my Mattock from the magnetic clasp on my back. "Garrus, Tali, get to that beam! Double time!" without waiting for an affirmative, I charged down the field, watching my Alliance brothers and sisters fall before Harbinger's beams, narrowly grazing me as well, my red Serrice Hardsuit looking more black, with the left wrist mounted biotic amplifier melted completely off. My Kuwashii Visor indicated that there was only about 500 metres to the beam before the APC in front of me was blown backwards and the MAKO in front of it was sent flying back to my team. _Oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck! _I screamed in my head, doubling back behind the MAKO to see what had happened to Tali and Garrus. Garrus looked fine, but his rifle arm was broken, bent awkwardly at the elbow, but Tali, oh god Tali, she looked like someone from one of those old 'SAW' movies Joker made them watch back on the SR1, she was covered head to toe in blood, god knew how much of it was hers, with multiple suit ruptures along her arms and a broken left leg. I put my hand to the transmit button on my visor and all but yelled into the microphone. " Joker! We need evac! Immediately, we have wounded! I repeat, we have wounded!" I was more afraid than I had ever been at that point, even more than Akuze when I watched fifty-one other men get torn apart by thresher maws. I started applying medigel to Tali's wounds, using what little we had left to stabilize her and apply the suit patches she kept in her _realk_ pocket. I heard her mumble 'Shepard' a few times and took that as a good sign, that she would live, if only Joker would get his crippled ass-

"Commander!" I heard through a burst of static "This is Joker, we're coming in for evac, but we're losing ships left and right!" I could hear his concern over the comm, and hear EDI barking orders to the crew, the pressure even seeming to affect the AI.

Before the Normandy had even set down, I had picked up Tali and began running to the cargo bay doors, using my biotics to increase my mass for more momentum, Garrus wasn't a slouch either, pouring all of his Turian strength into his run and almost matching my pace. As he climbed aboard, I handed him Tali, "take good care of her Garrus" I said, in a voice softer than any I'd ever used, surprising even me.

"I will Shepard, just come back alive." It was at this point that Tali returned to lucidity and grabbed my arm.

"Shepard!" she cried, not letting go, clinging to the remaining Amp on my hardsuit.

"you've got to get out of here Tali" I said, trying to stay strong.

"I can't stay behind, I'm not leaving you."

"don't argue with me Tali-"

"don't leave me behind!" she interrupted

"I need you to make it out of here alive Tali, go back to Rannoch, build yourself a home" I countered, cradling her helmet with my free hand.

"I have a home… Come back to me" it was at this point her grip on my arm loosened and I ran down the ramp, allowing Garrus to carry Tali to safety.

"I will, Tali, I promise."

"Shepard," Garrus finally piped up. "kick some arse, but make sure you come back alive. You made this young lady a promise"

I simply nodded and ran towards the beam, my Mattock lost in the vehicle explosion leaving me with the M-77 Paladin on my hip. It was at this point that Harbinger finally decided to shoot at me, barely giving me time to avoid as I watched the Normandy fly away with Tali aboard. Then all I saw was darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

I feel like death

My head pounds, my skin burns, I'm probably missing quite a lot of my blood. This means I'm still alive. As I woke up I took inventory, My armour was destroyed, the entire left arm of my suit gone, my legs were protected by the thickness of the serrice leg plates, not much left, but I doubt I'd have been able to move with those heavy greaves still intact. My biotics were on the fritz, the explosion still ringing in my ears making it impossible to concentrate enough for even a barrier, let alone any heavy stuff. My visor is gone, the melted plastic residue on my cheek making its location obvious. I rose with difficulty, trying not to open any new wounds and listened for comm traffic with the remaining comm receiver still lodged in my left ear.

"Did anybody make it to the beam?" I heard a platoon leader cry into the microphone

"Negative," answered Major Coats "the entire force was decimated, fall back! Fall back!" Without my visor's long range microphone I was limited to local transmission, not far enough to reach the forward operating base and unable to signal that I was still alive with a deactivated hardsuit, I pushed forward, finding my Paladin close by. _Say what you will about the spectres _I thought to myself, _they make weapons that last_. On my way to the beam I encountered a group of husks, my aim wasn't as good as normal, but the Paladin's stopping power put them all down, one shot each, right to the chest. I ejected the almost spent heat sink from the pistol and placing a new one in, leaving me with 2 more in reserve. As I moved on I began to falter, falling to my knees just in time for a bullet to whizz over my head. Looking up, I saw a marauder that had obviously seen better days, its firing hand missing 2 fingers, leaving it only its trigger finger, it was missing an optical unit and its shield emitter showed obvious damage, arcing at random intervals. "Looks like we've both been through a war eh?" I chuckled at the marauder, who only made its normal clicking and perversion of the Turian language in return. Before it could line up another shot I fired my Paladin from my kneeling position, hitting it twice in the chest, causing it to stagger, and twice more to finally end it, the shots colliding with the Ex-Turian's forehead and returning it to the spirits of Palaven. After the Marauder fell, I moved up to the beam, feeling the familiar mass drop of a mass relay jump before being thrown in the air and landing hard on the deck of the Citadel.

"Shepard? You there?" came over my short range radio

"Anderson? You up here too?" I replied through clenched teeth

"I followed you up, that marauder had me pinned. I don't think we came out at the same place" he growled, sounding pained "take a look around you, what's it look like?"

"It doesn't look like any part of the Citadel I've been to before, there are human remains scattered, tubes running along the wall, and keepers sorting through the bodies"

"Sounds a little like your description of the collector base." Anderson paused and didn't speak for what seemed an eternity "you think they're building a reaper in here?" he finally said, is apprehension evident in his voice.

"Makes sense, round them up on earth, then send them up here to be processed"

"God damned abomination, I'm going to move ahead, how are you doing?"

"I feel like death, but I'm moving."

As I moved on I passed pile upon pile of human corpses, some missing eyes or even entire limbs, I reached a bridge and lost all contact with Anderson. The sight was incredible, it looked similar to the power system on the Shadow Broker ship that used to orbit Hagalaz, only ten times more complex, with electric panels moving and generating power, it was then that I realized where I was. I was in the Citadel core, an area that none but the keepers had ever entered, and no wonder, it was a giant reaper processing plant. As I crossed the bridge I noticed a person ahead, silhouetted against the light of the closed wards visible outside. It wasn't until I moved closer that I noticed who it was. "Anderson?"

"Shepard" he gasped back, stumbling around, definitely not himself, "I can't, they-"

"What's wrong Anderson?" it was at this point a pain tore through my skull, the most pain I'd ever felt, and this after I asphyxiated in space and re-entered a planet's atmosphere. My vision blackened and my hearing failed, coming back in time for me to hear the one voice I really didn't want to hear at that point.

"I underestimated you Shepard"

"What the fu-"I growled as the pain rushed through again, cutting me off. The Illusive Man's implants seemed to have given him mental powers similar to his master's

"I warned you, control is the means to survival, control of the Reapers, and control of you if necessary."

Anderson began to growl; fighting the control "They're… controlling you!" he managed to burst out.

"I don't think so. Admiral" Anderson's title being used to mock the state The Illusive Man held him in.

"Controlling me is a lot different… Than controlling a Reaper, Jack" I managed to say over the headaches, trying to appeal to what was left of the Illusive Man, what was left of Jack Harper.

"Have a little faith" he countered, seemingly put off by my use of his real name. "When humanity learned of the Mass Relays, when we learned that there was so much more to the Galaxy than we imagined, there were some that believed the Relays should be destroyed. They were scared of what we'd find, terrified of what we may let in. Look at what we have achieved since then, we've advanced more than the last ten thousand years combined and the reapers will do the same again. If only we harness their power to control"

"Bullshit, we destroy them, or they destroy us" Anderson barked, fighting just as hard as I was to break Jack's control.

"No! We can advance humanity to new heights! Higher than anyone! Stronger fleets than the Turians, better biotics than the Asari, greater intelligence than the Salarians."

"Jack!" I called out "you don't understand, you're playing with things you don't know how to control, with power you shouldn't be able to use!"

"I… Don't believe that." He simply replied, his tone shifting, "if we can control them, why shouldn't we use this power?"

"Because we're not ready" I countered, applying the indecision I caused.

"No." he said, the Reapers firmly back in control it would seem. "This is how humanity must evolve."

"There's always another way" Anderson said, Jack's control seeming to loosen momentarily

"N...No, I've dedicated my life to understanding the Reapers, the crucible can control them" he said, slipping into the same monotone Saren did, back when Shepard started undermining his indoctrination. "See the powers I've already gained!" With the last sentence, he closed his fist and all sensation was ripped from my body, I saw my arm rise, I saw my finger move, and I saw the bullet rip through Anderson's stomach. It scared the living hell out of me.

"I see what they did to you." I said condescendingly, trying to use his pride against him.

"I took what I wanted from them!" He said, slipping into a defensive tone, representative of indoctrination being challenged, once more like Saren. The indoctrinated were as predictable as their masters. "This isn't about me or you! It's about things bigger than all of us! Who will you believe? A soldier only able to see the world down a gun sight? What if he's wrong?"

I had him. "And what if you are wrong?"

"What?"

"What If you can't control the Reapers? What if they return after they overthrow you? Would you bet humanity's existence on that not happening?"

"No, no I know it will work!"

"You can't resist, can you? They won't let you. So much for Humanity's savior, turned into a puppet."

"NO! NO! NOBODY'S CONTROLLING ME! I'M IN CONTROL!" he screamed, pulling the Predator from Anderson's hip holster.

"You're indoctrinated Jack!" I yelled, insistent on using his real name, probably the only link to humanity he had left

"Shepard. I… I only wanted to protect humanity. The Crucible can control them, I know it can!"

"Because of you, Humanity is doomed" I said, a disappointed tone in my voice

"That's not true!" he yelled, wild eyed and rubbing his forehead with the hand not holding the gun. Most likely a headache caused by his master's control being undermined.

"It is! They have the Citadel! You handed it to them, you may as well have put a little bow on it marked 'To Harbinger, Love Jack Harper!' and now we are here, fighting each other instead of fighting them! You know how many humans are dying while we talk this out? You have played directly into their hands!"

"No, I haven't, no. yes… I ha-"He was cut off as he grabbed his head, the reapers fighting him for dominance of his mind. "Shepard, tell humanity, I'm sorry" He then put the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger, his body slumped to the ground as the light from his reaper implants and even his iconic eyes winked out, as dead as he was. It was at this point that his control released and Anderson and I were released. As Anderson slumped down, I ran to the console, hoping that I wasn't too late.

((This is Tali's POV while Shepard can't see anything going on in case you don't notice))

I awoke in the Normandy med-bay, last thing I remember is saying goodbye to Shepard, it was then it clicked "Keelah! Shepard!" I cried, and sat bolt upright, sending a massive pang of pain up my side, it was then that Dr. Chakwas was there

"Tali, lay back down this instant!" she said in her cross motherly tone "I don't want to be on the receiving end of Shepard's anger if he heard you got hurt in my med bay"

"No, I need to go to the cockpit!" I said, my eyes blazing with insistence behind my visor.

"Fine, but you aren't walking on that leg cast dear," Chakwas finally said, "use these crutches, Joker left them down here"

Using the awkward human crutches, I made my way up to deck two and finally hobbled my way into the cockpit, where Joker was sending the Normandy into such tight maneuvers that I noticed the G-Forces despite the Normandy's top of the line inertial dampners. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one of the team on the deck; Garrus had come up as well, his arm in a dark blue cast, matching his armour. "Garrus, what's going on? What happened to Shepard?" I asked, worry evident in my voice.

"All we know is that he got onto the Citadel somehow, but his armour must be damaged, there's no lifesign readings being transmitted" He stopped when he noticed how worried I was getting, "Don't worry Tali, he's probably fine. He's been through worse. He also made a promise to you; remember Shepard's policy on promises?"

"He keeps them"

"Damn right." He chuckled, his mandibles flaring, but the expression not meeting his eyes. "Wait, what's going- Shepard did it! Look Tali!" sure enough, the arms of the Citadel were opening, wide enough to admit the Crucible, which began its journey, heavily guarded by shield fleet, a huge contingent of Turian and Human Dreadnaughts with smaller Asari and Salarian Vessels backing them up. _It's a truly amazing sight,_ _to imagine that Shepard could do all this. _

((Back To Shepard))

Anderson coughed next to me, looking out of the now opened Citadel arms "God, feels like years since I just sat down"

"Heh, I know that feeling Admiral"

"What did I say about formality Commander?" he laughed, coughing a bit from the wound I'd been forced to give him.

"At least we got the best seats in the house." I continued, trying to keep the mood light.

Anderson only sighed "you did good son. You did good. I'm proud of you." He then started to slump

"Anderson? Anderson! Stay with me, we'll get out of this!" but he was gone, his wounds from the beam and the gut shot earlier had finally sealed the old man's fate.

Before Anderson's body could even sink all the way down from his sitting position, more bad news struck, as my long distance radio finally picked up another signal, Hackett was hailing me directly. "Commander? Commander, are you there? There's something wrong with the Crucible, it's not firing! It has to be on your end."

Unable to respond without a long distance transmitter, I scrambled back to the console, the blood loss preventing me from standing back up before I collapsed, just inches from my target. _Well Shepard, _my mind taunted, _you came this far to fail here? I'm disappointed in you 'Commander,' you let everyone down, even the one you supposedly love._ It faded to black again.

I awoke again in a different area, an area that I've never seen before. As I was on my knees looking around, I swore I saw the child that haunted my dreams walking towards me. "Oh, you not content with haunting my dreams, you gotta taunt me in death too?" The child appeared unfazed, and when I looked again, the child was ethereal, for all intents and purposes, a ghost.

"I am not the Child you saw die on earth" It said, it's voice sounding like multiple people talking together, a man, a woman, a child, and something sinister I couldn't place. "I am the Catalyst. "

"But, I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst" I said, not understanding what was going on

"I am the Citadel. The reapers are part of me, they are my solution and, according to your presence here, it seems my solution has failed."

"Solution? To what?"

"Chaos" The child said, rather unhelpfully

"What on earth do you mean" I inquired, not making heads or tails of what this Genocidal ghost was saying.

"You are chaos, we are order" it was then that I realized what this thing was. It was a reaper, possibly the leader of the reapers, even higher on the food chain than Harbinger himself. "Organics create Synthetics, which then turn on their creators; we harvest the organics and preserve them in reaper form"

"We don't want to be bloody preserved!" I countered, as the irritation grew in my voice. "I just negotiated an end to a war three hundred years in the making; I created peace between the Quarians and the Geth!"

The child was unconvinced. "A temporary alliance. It will soon falter and descend into chaos, we must prese-"

I cut him off then and there "how do you know? You are nothing but an AI, just because you are a fan of Genocide, doesn't mean all of them are. One of my greatest friends was Legion, an AI who sacrificed himself for the good of the galaxy, and after that, the Geth offered to let the Quarians live on Rannoch again!"

The Catalyst lacked an answer and dropped the subject. "Fine, see it your way then. But, you know you don't have to destroy us. The beam in front of you will take your essence, break it down, and release it, combining all Organics with synthetic parts and vice versa. It is a perfect solution, and the reapers will leave your galaxy alone due to the Chaos having been negated, we will even help you rebuild."

"Rewriting an entire Galaxy against its will? That's sick!" I exclaimed, not mentioning the fact that the reapers could easily use it against the former organics.

"it may be the only choice you want," he continued "you could Control us, as your Illusive Man wanted, you would die, but your memories and will would be forged into a new Catalyst, placing the reapers at your control. You will no longer be organic, but you can save the galaxy." Noticing my silence, the Catalyst moved on "you could also destroy us, but beware; this will kill you and all synthetics, including the Geth"

The way he said the last option was odd, but killing the Geth and EDI, I couldn't do it, not after all we'd been through. I started walking towards the Control platform when I remembered. Jack Harper and his mad bid for control, Anderson's rebuttal to Jack's argument for control 'we destroy them, or they destroy us' and even EDI 'I do not wish to live in a galaxy where reapers exist, even if I died, killing them would be worth any price' it was then that I realized what I was about to do. "Fuck you kid!' I yelled, sprinting for the platform to destroy before it was removed, my injuries lessened by adrenalin and rage _Zaeed was right, Rage is one hell of an anesthetic_, and pulled my pistol, shooting and activating the destroy platform. "I'm breaking your god damned toys!"

the anger showed on his ghostly face when a deep voice similar to Harbinger's growled out from his mouth, **"SO BE IT" **as tendrils reached out as if to kill me, only to stop dead as the Catalyst, now revealed to be a reaper general, disintegrated as red light filled the room. The explosion of the destroy platform knocked me down once more. _New rule,_ I thought as blackness claimed me, _no more universe saving._


	3. Chapter 3

((Tali.))

I watched the battle unfold beyond the cockpit window, occasionally glancing to Joker's instruments to check combat feeds. It was not going well; Sovereign class reapers were merely swatting away fighters like so many flies and obliterating everything larger with their laser cannons. The Oculi, the small drones the reapers used as fighters, were being destroyed en masse but more were constantly being churned out by the larger ships. The only fleets that were actually holding were the Turian and Rannoch fleets, if only due to size, I watched the Rayya almost get hit on the broadside only for a Geth frigate to swoop in and take the shot, allowing my birth ship to survive and focus fire on the sovereign with assistance from the Deferens and Icktomi, destroying the Reaper before it could fire again. _We can take them down, _I mused darkly, _but how many of us would actually be left if we lose three ships for every Sovereign?_ Just as I began to despair, Hackett called out over the comms.

"All fleets, the crucible has been activated, fall back to the relay, move into FTL and rendezvous at these coordinates."

"What?" I cried, "We can't leave! Shepard's still down on the Citadel! We can't leave him behind!"

"I'm on it Tali, we are not losing him again" Joker replied, aiming the Normandy for the citadel.

This was when Garrus finally looked up from the battle readouts on his Omni-Tool. "Joker, stop! The Reapers are all converging on the Crucible, it'd be suicide!"

My face turned to shock behind my visor. "Garrus! You can't leave Shepard down there! He's still alive, I know it and we need to save him!"

Garrus just turned to me, his eyes filled with pain. "I know Tali, and I'm going to kick myself for saying this, but Shepard would want us to go, he wouldn't want to risk all of us just for him. He was the closest to a brother I've ever had and I'll always regret leaving him, but I promised I'd keep you safe for him."

Tears merely welled up in my eyes, unable to believe what I was hearing and unable to find an opposing point. _Why did that Bosh'tet have to be so selfless?_

"Damn it…" was Joker's only response as he turned the Normandy around, the last ship to leave the battle.

As the ship approached the relay, something was incredibly wrong. "What's wrong with the relay?" asked Joker, the relay's normal blue core pulsing red. "It looks like the Omega 4 rel- oh shit!" Joker was interrupted as a red wave escaped the relay as it overloaded, sending a red beam off through space. "EDI, Jump to FTL now! Get us away from that thing!"

As the ship threw itself through space, faster than light dared go, I watched the red light behind us, it seemed to be gaining speed, which was impossible, there's no way light could go faster than li- "Keelah! Joker, the light's catching up!" The whole Normandy shook as all nonessential systems shut down and EDI collapsed in her seat. Garrus and I strapped ourselves into the unoccupied seats in the cockpit and braced for a landing in Keelah knew where.

As ship systems came back online, I double checked everything. The ship was damaged, yet serviceable, EDI was offline for unknown reasons, but I believed I could fix her; unfortunately her body received no such respite. The servos were broken, optical units fried, almost as if the pulse targeted Synthetic hardware, leaving software alone. Pondering this mystery, Joker and I finished scans of the ship and exterior and moved outside the ship to investigate. The planet was covered in jungle and had breathable atmosphere, the plants were Levo based and we saw no animals, not wanting to risk anything, we decided to use up the Normandy's own food stores, which could last a week or two, depending on how they were rationed. After determining our location, we set to work on the ship repairs.

It had taken about a week to repair the Normandy's systems, my leg was fine enough to walk on thanks to my suit's built in medical programs, but I still had a limp, Garrus' arm was more or less healed, the lucky bosh'tet's exoskeleton absorbing most of the damage. The main thing left to do was fix EDI, which didn't take very much time, upon opening the core, all I had to do was replace some connectors with her blue box and reboot her in safe mode. She was still a little bit off, but she would return to full functionality soon enough, the same couldn't be said for her body, however. With EDI fixed, it was time to head back to earth, see how the Alliance had coped, but not before one more duty I had been dreading the whole week.

Everyone had gathered around the wall, even EDI, her old hologram form a little unstable, but she was definitely there, using the holopad that conveyed her form to give the Illusion that she was standing next to Joker. _Good, _I thought, _at least that survived_. As I approached the wall with the new plaque, I couldn't help but notice the few names that stuck out, Thane, Mordin, hell, even the old SR1 crew. All of them had died for this war, a war I wasn't even sure we had won, and as I lifted the new plaque to its place of honour below Admiral Anderson's, I stopped and looked down. 'Commander T. Shepard' was embossed on the otherwise undecorated piece of plastic. _Hah, _I thought, _even in death he tells nobody his first name_. It was at this thought I stopped completely and let the plaque fall. "No," I said, both crying and smiling. "I refuse to believe Shepard is dead, that would be breaking his promise" as I turned around, the crew agreed, with applause from Ashley and Joker, a crisp salute from Vega and Garrus just standing as he always did, albeit with a new light in his eyes. I smiled, _some things never change._

((Shepard.))

The headache is there, but at least this time it's mine. No Reaper mindfucks this time, just a plain old survived a massive explosion headache, god I missed these. I'm buried beneath rubble, the platform I shot from still beneath me. My vision returns and I see light above me, the good old fashioned artificial lights of the ward arms. I tap into my implant, which in turn taps into my body's Eezo nodes and send a mass effect field rumbling forward, enough to clear some of the rubble. It is at this point my ears started working again

"…pard, repeat, we found Shepard! At the base of the bottom Ward arm" with this, I looked up, the crucible dock, where I had fallen from, looked light years away. _Well, I guess Cerberus and the Spectres both kept the idea of making things that last_, I chuckled to myself, immediately in pain. If I had to guess, a majority of my bones were broken and only my cybernetics were keeping me moving at that point, well, were at least. I collapsed as soon as I escaped my rubble prison.

I woke up again to Admiral Hackett standing at the end of a bed. _Bed? Wait, what's happening?_ My still partially conscious mind immediately starts looking for escape routes when I finally notice where I am. I was in a hospital, most likely in one of Earth's less demolished cities. "Shepard! Calm down!" Hackett exclaims, using his usual authoritative tone before slipping into his more informal one. "We just spent a week putting your bones back together, take it easy." He was right, I was a mess, but I was alive, that was all that mattered at that moment. I had to live, for her. "I won't make light of this Shepard, and I hate paying them a compliment, but Cerberus did good work. What you went through would have killed any normal man, hell, it would have killed a Krogan. Thanks to your cybernetics and the assistance of Ms. Lawson, you should be back up and running in a few days, just take it easy Shepard, we can't have the savior of the Galaxy dying of his injuries."

"But, my crew! Where are they?" I burst out, "where's the Normandy?" Hackett simply dipped his head. "What happened, Admiral?" I finished with venom that would have gotten me in serious trouble at any other time.

"We lost contact with the Normandy when we were pulling back to let the crucible fire. They've been missing since then. We haven't seen the wreckage of the Normandy but-" The door bursting open interrupted Hackett, with Kasumi and Zaeed standing in the doorframe.

"Shep!" She called, the bubbly master thief turned hero exclaimed, running over and hugging me, causing a moderate amount of pain. "We found them! We found them!"

"Slow down Kasumi," I said, glad at least some of my crew had survived the war, "who did you find?"

"We found the Normandy! They came into the system about an hour ago, they'll be here soon!"

"Yeah," Said Zaeed, to the point as always "picked up her signature as I was boarding my ship, wanted to scan for any 'old friends' that I don't want surprising me, and then boom, the Normandy drops in just past Pluto, it's a guddamn miracle."

I had never moved faster in my life. Despite my legs not wanting to cooperate, I managed to liberate some crutches from a nearby room as Kasumi and Zaeed led me to the Hangar that the Normandy was told to dock with, we got there just as they arrived. I hobbled to where the docking ramp would extend just in time.

((Tali))

On the way back to Earth, I buried myself in work, running the engineering team ragged, double and triple checking everything, fixing EDI, managing engine systems, optimizing and re-optimizing. _I'm turning into Garrus_ blinked through my mind a few times, but I needed anything to distract me from my fear. _He's alive, you know it. _I told myself, _Shepard wouldn't let something like the reapers get in the way of his promise_. Despite the irrationality of it, I was starting to like this thought. As the Normandy finally limped back into the Sol system, EDI told me that they had been detected and were being hailed, well, she told everyone on the ship, I hadn't quite fixed her intercom program yet, "Incoming hail from Zaeed Massani, patching it through" _good, I thought, at least somebody made it through alive_. Zaeed started to talk, but EDI suddenly cut off all communication to deck 4 before Zaeed could say anything. _Odd, _I thought, _I'll have to check the breaker._ When the communication to deck 4 finally came back online, it was Joker, talking directly to me.

"Hey Tali," he said, hiding something, I was unsure what. "Why don't you take a break? We're headed to Earth now, why not see Shepard's planet when it's not burning?" That last statement stung, I was unsure why, but I went up anyway, leaving Gabby in charge.

When I got to the bridge, I saw what Joker meant. Despite the still visible damage, Earth was beautiful, it's large oceans, the continents looking like a Jigsaw Puzzle, the complete opposite of Rannoch, which was mostly land with small seas. I saw all this beauty, and all I could think about was Shepard, there was no point hiding it, I was holding onto a dream, there were far too many Reapers surrounding the Citadel. Like that, the floodgates opened, I shut off my external sound and stood there, sobbing into my helmet, I didn't even notice who was waiting for us on the dock.

((Shepard.))

As the Normandy's airlock opened, I saw her, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy in all her glory. Her suit had been patched, her leg was more or less fixed, and her beautiful purple _realk _was draped over her helmet. When she looked up, I think we were both unprepared. She jumped at me, using her powerful Quarian legs to launch herself through the air, she collided with me and hugged me as if I were trying to escape.

"Shepard!" she cried, the tears evident albeit invisible. "I thought you were dead!"

"I missed you too, Tali." I said as softly as possible, despite the 69 kilos of Quarian currently laying on my chest and pressing on my newly fixed ribcage.

_Totally Worth it. _ Was all that went through my head at that moment.


End file.
